Laparotomy sheet with plastic reinforcement

ABSTRACT

A surgical sheet or drape in the form of a relatively large rectangular panel of nonwoven paper material having a centrally disposed strip of plastic incorporated therein to eliminate strikethrough of body fluids and foreign materials such as lint getting into a wound during a surgical operation, such as a laparotomy. An aperture is formed in the plastic sheet or panel to provide access to the area in which the operation is being conducted.

United States Patent Robert T. Bayer Asheville, N.C.;

Robert M. Woronoff, Atlanta, Ga. 761,776

Sept. 23, 1968 Feb. 23, l 97 1 Mars Manufacturing Company, Inc.Asheville, NC.

Inventors Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee LAPAROTOMY SHEET WITHPLASTIC REINFORCEMENT 7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 128/132, 128/156, 129/296 Int. (1 A6If 13/00 Field of Search128/155- [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,397,692 8/1968Creager et a1. 128/132 3,410,266 11/1968 Krzewinski et al 128/1323,416,520 12/1968 Creager 128/132 Primary Examiner-Adele M. EagerAssistant Examiner-J. B. Mitchell AttorneysClarence A. OBrien and HarveyB. Jacobson ABSTRACT: A surgical sheet or drape in the form of arelatively large rectangular panel of nonwoven paper material having acentrally disposed strip of plastic incorporated therein to eliminatestrikethrough of body fluids and foreign materials such as lint gettinginto a wound during a surgical operation, such as a laparotomy. Anaperture is formed in the plastic sheet or panel to provide access tothe area in which the operation is being conducted.

PATENTFHFEBBIQYI 3565067 "Fig.

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Robert 7'. Buyer Robert M. Woranoff IN VENTOKS.

BY 2mm LAPAROTOMY SHEET r asnc REINFORCEMENT.

contaminated solutions and the like leak through conventional textilematerial employed in surgical sheets or drapes or when such fluids breakthrough the barrier of disposable paper surgical drapes or sheets. Thebreakthrough of body fluid allows contaminant to travel from one surfaceof the surgical drape to the other. Further, whether disposable papersurgical drapes, or linen or textile surgical drapes are employed, thereis a continuing problem of lint which would be contaminated and couldeasily get into a wound without'being seen.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide asurgical drape in the form of a laparotomy sheet or the like which isconstructed of a nonwoven paper with a strip of static free plasticincorporated into the center thereof which affords total protection inthe area where fluids are encountered and operative procedures are beingconducted thereby completely eliminating strikethrough of body fluid andforeign material such as lint coming into contact with'the wound.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a laparotomy sheetin accordance with the preceding object in which the plastic insert isprovided with:an opening cut out of the center to provide access to theareainwhich the operative procedure is being conducted. The pla ticstrip extends across the narrow dimension of the rectangular sheet andis secured to the edges of the panels forming the sheet'by a suitableadhesive or tape. The width of the plastic strip is relatively narrowthus retaining the overall breathability, of the sheet and thusmaintaining proper patient temperatures Additionally; the sheet is solidin areas'where it is next to the skin while maintaining completeprotection in the area where operative procedures are being conducted. 1

A further object of the present. invention isto provide a laparotomysheet which is quite simple'iri construction, effective in solvingcertain problems existent inthis field, capable of efficient use andrelatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects andadvantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside the details of 'construction and operationas more fully hereinafterdescribed and claimed, reference being bad to"the accompanying drawings forminga part hereof, wherein like numeralsrefer to like parts throughout, and in which: 7

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the laparotomy sheet of the present invention;and I FIG. 2 is a detail sectional view taken substantially upon a planepassing along section line 2-2 of HQ. 1 illustrating the structuraldetails of the sheet including the plastic insert and the openingtherein.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the laparotomy sheet of thepresent invention is generallydesignated by the numeral and in plan viewis substantially rectangular in configuration. While not limited to anyparticular dimensions,

it has been found that dimensions of approximately 87 inches in widthand 120 inches in length perform satisfactorily. The sheet 10 includestwo panels 12 and 14 of similar shape and configuration with one panelbeing about 6 inches shorter than the other and both panels beingconstructedof a nonwoven paper. Disposed between andinterconnecting theedges of the paper panels 12 and 14 is a plastic panel or strip 16 whichextends between the side edges of the sheet 10 and is coextensive inlength to the width of the sheet 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The edgesof the panels 12 and 14 overlap the edges of the plastic strip 16 asillustrated in FlG.;2 and are secured thereto by a suitable adhesivebonding-material as at 18. if desired, the edges of the panels 12 and 14could be disposed in alignment with the edges of the strip 16 with theedges thus being interconnected by a suitable bonding adhesive tape orthe like. Whether the edges overlap as in FIG. 2 or the tape is employedoverlapping both adjacent edges, the major portion of the width of theplastic strip 16 is free of paper and while the width of the plasticstrip 16 may vary, it has been found that a strip 16 inches in widthperforms effectively.

Centrally disposed within the plastic strip or insert 16 is an openingor fenistration 20 which is also rectangular in configuration with thelong dimension thereof paralleling the long side edge of the sheet 10.The opening 20 is centrally disposed between the side edges of theplastic strip 16 and also centrally disposed between the end edgesthereof as illustrated in FIG.

1. While the dimensions of the opening 20 may also vary, it has beenfound that an opening 2 to 4 inches in width and approximately l2 incheslong enables operative procedures to be properly conducted through theopening.

By employing rectangular panels with all edges being straight, thelaparotomy sheet of the present invention may be easily manufacturedemploying known techniques. The relatively narrow width of the plasticstrip 16 extending across the sheet does not adversely effect thebreathability of the overall sheet and thus enables stabilization of thecondition and temperature of the patient inasmuch as the nonwoven paperal lows the passage of a filtered air from one surface of the sheet tothe other. However, the plastic strip or insert 16 affords totalprotection against strikethrough of fluids in the area where fluids areencountered during operative procedures and also affords totalprotection against deposit of foreign material such as lint intothe=wound while such operative procedures are being conducted.Additionally, the plastic material employed is static-free and may havea bacteria inhibiting agent incorporated in it and has been approvedforsurgical use as has the nonwoven paper. Also, the adhesive bonding ortape also has been FDA approved for surgical use.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents maybe resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A surgical drape such as a laparotomy sheet comprising an enlargedbreathable panel having an opening disposed centrally therein, and amoisture proof member defining the periphery of the opening to eliminatestrikethrough of fluids during a surgical procedure and toeliminatecontamination of a wound by lint or other foreign material coming intocontact therewith from portions of the panel outwardly of themoistureproof member, said moistureproof member extending across saidpanel between the ends thereof.

. 2. A surgical drape such as a laparotomy sheet comprising an enlargedpanel having an opening disposed centrally therein, and a moistureproofmember defining the periphery of the opening to eliminate strikethroughof fluids during a surgical procedure and to eliminate contamination ofa wound by lint or other foreign material coming into contact therewithfrom portions of the drape outwardly of the moistureproof member, saidmoistureproof member including a strip of flexible plastic materialextending completely across said panel and being relatively narrow toseparate the enlarged panel into two side panels having the edgesthereof secured to the plastic strip.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 in which the edges of the sidepanels overlap and are bonded to the edges of the plastic strip.

4. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said opening in the panelis formed exclusively in said plastic strip with the periphery of theopening being spaced from the overlapping edges of the side panels.

5. The structure as defined in claim 4 in which the panel is enlargedand substantially rectangular in configuration with the plastic stripextending transversely across the narrow dimension of the panel, saidopening in the plastic strip being rectangular with the long dimensionthereof paralleling the long dimension of the panel.

6. The structure as defined in claim 5 wherein the ends of said stripare coextensive with the long edges of the panel with the width of thestrip being substantially less than the width of either side panelthereby completely eliminating strikethrough of contaminant fluids whilemaintaining breathability of the drape to stabilize the condition andtemperature of the patient.

7. A laparotomy sheet comprising a pair of enlarged panels of fabric ornonwoven paper material having sufficient porosity to enable passage offiltered air from one surface to the other and provided with spacedadjacent edges, an elongated strip of flexible plastic materialinterconnecting the adjacent edges of the panels with the width of thestrip of plastic material being relatively small as compared with thetotal length of the sheet to permit filtered air to pass through a majorportion of the sheet while preventing strikethrough of fluids throughthe plastic strip, and a centrally disposed opening in said plasticstrip with the periphery of the opening being at least slightly spacedfrom the edges of the panels and substantially spaced from the edges ofthe strip that are not connected to the panels.

2. A surgical drape such as a laparotomy sheet comprising an enlargedpanel having an opening disposed centrally therein, and a moistureproofmember defining the periphery of the opening to eliminate strikethroughof fluids during a surgical procedure and to eliminate contamination ofa wound by lint or other foreign material coming into contact therewithfrom portions of the drape outwardly of the moistureproof member, saidmoistureproof member including a strip of flexible plastic materialextending completely across said panel and being relatively narrow toseparate the enlarged panel into two side panels having the edgesthereof secured to the plastic strip.
 3. The structure as defined inclaim 2 in which the edges of the side panels overlap and are bonded tothe edges of the plastic strip.
 4. The structure as defined in claim 2wherein said opening in the panel is formed exclusively in said plasticstrip with the periphery of the opening being spaced from theoverlapping edges of the side panels.
 5. The structure as defined inclaim 4 in which the panel is enlarged and substantially rectangular inconfiguration with the plastic strip extending transversely across thenarrow dimension of the panel, said opening in the plastic strip beingrectangular with the long dimension thereof paralleling the longdimension of the panel.
 6. The structure as defined in claim 5 whereinthe ends of said strip are coextensive with the long edges of the panelwith the width of the strip being substantially less than the width ofeither side panel thereby completely eliminating strikethrough ofcontaminant fluids while maintaining breathability of the drape tostabilize the condition and temperature of the patient.
 7. A laparotomysheet comprising a pair of enlarged panels of fabric or nonwoven papermaterial having sufficient porosity to enable passage of filtered airfrom one surface to the other and provided with spaced adjacent edges,an elongated strip of flexible plastic material interconnecting theadjacent edges of the panels with the width of the strip of plasticmaterial being relatively small as compared with the total length of thesheet to permit filtered air to pass through a major portion of thesheet while preventing strikethrough of fluids through the plasticstrip, and a centrally disposed opening in said plastic strip with theperiphery of the opening being at least slightly spaced from the edgesof the panels and substantially spaced from the edges of the strip thatare not connected to the panels.